'Half the World': Isfahan

It’s been a while since I interrupted the journal of our travels in Iran to undertake the sonnet-a-day challenge. When we left you, we were en route from Shiraz to the ancient Safavid capital of Persia - Isfahan.

There’s a Persian saying, Esfahan nesf-e jahan: Isfahan is half the world. The proverb speaks to the overwhelming beauty of the place and its monuments, its climate, its urban planning. It’s the third largest city in Iran, nestled in a bowl of the Zagros mountains, and its economy is based on fine carpets, textiles, steel, handicrafts, and - to the chagrin of Donald Trump - extensive nuclear facilities.

You can read more about the city’s history and prehistory here.

Our hotel was slap bang on Naqsh-e Jahan Square ‎‎(Maidān-e Naqsh-e Jahān, the image of the world.) Constructed between 1598 and 1629, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site also referred to as Shah Square or Imam Square.

In the evenings, we strolled to the Zayande River bed to join what seemed like most of the city’s young population on its ornate bridges. Terrifyingly, the river is now a dry bed, with climate change and water diversion helping the desert win back its territory.

The bridges over the river may be the most beautiful structures in Isfahan. The oldest is the Shahrestan bridge, whose foundations were built by the Sasanian Empire (3rd-7th century Sassanid era) and which was repaired during the Seljuk period. Further upstream is Khaju bridge, which was built by Shah Abbas II in 1650. It is 123 metres long with 24 arches, and also serves as a sluice gate.

Upstream (if you can use the word ‘upstream’ to describe the baked-mud, reedy bed - is the Si-o-Seh Pol or bridge of 33 arches. The longest bridge in Isfahan at 295 m, it was built during the rule of Shah Abbas the Great, and linked Isfahan with the Armenian suburb of New Julfa.

The Armenians, Christians invited to escape persecution in their homeland, graced Isfahan with the stunning Vank cathedral.

I was blown away by the stunning frescoes, depicting almost every scene in the Christian bible and - brutally - scenes from the tortures of St Gregory the Illuminator. The art is big, bold, dynamic, energetic, as if the artist had heard about, if he had not seen, the contemporary Last Judgements of Michaelangelo and Raphael.

Gregory was an important patron to the Armenians of Vank, who made printing a speciality. The library and museum across the cathedral courtyard, contain an amazing collection of early printed books - psalteries and bibles, but also early editions of the Quran. A later English printing press adorned with a captured Napoleonic eagle (a similar press can be found in the Ulster Museum in Belfast) and an eclectic collection of eastern, French and Italian artworks testify to the web of connections the Armenians - and in fact, all of Iran - had with the worlds of Europe and the Far East.

We travelled in Iran in the company of Pars Tours whose Key to Persia tours offer a huge range of itineraries, with informative and patient guides.

Check out the earlier instalments of this travelogue (start here) and upvote and resteem if you enjoy the writing or the photography.